Tucson Police Chief called out for racial profiling against Mexicans

“René Huerta Meza’s detention and deportation last week highlight how TPD is actively racial profiling to enforce SB 1070. That’s because we wonder if police would have felt compelled to verify Huerta Meza’s immigration status had he been white.

TPD Chief Roberto Villaseñor denies racial profiling is taking place in his department. However, racial profiling is absolutely necessary for the TPD officers to be able to enforce the state immigration law [SB 1070].”

Last week one of Tucson’s most beautiful human beings was repeatedly maced and detained by multiple law enforcement agents, including at least 10 Tucson Police and Border Patrol agents.

His crime was lying down on the road, and despite a clear overpowering of force by multiple strong men, Raul Alcaraz, who suffers from asthma, was still pepper-sprayed multiple times.

The problem is that Pima County, home to Tucson, shares a long border with Mexico and immigration is a much bigger issue here than in Maricopa County, home to Sheriff Arpaio. The difference is that in Baja Arizona, the harassment and racial profiling and breaking up of families is done quickly and quietly, whereas Sheriff Arpaio brings out all the news cameras, sometimes even Steven Seagal in a tank, just to raid a car wash for a handful of people.

Even Tucson’s own Latino Police Chief, working under the former Latino Police Chief and current city manager for an all-Democratic Tucson city council and mayor, has his own police force harassing the Latino community, from TUSD on May 3rd, 2011 to the present with their racial profiling that Raul Alcaraz was involved with.

The Latino community came out to support Raul, thus getting media attention, and thus leading to the columnist at the local paper’s demonization of the immigrant and justification of police force and racial profiling.

Below is a response to that Arizona Daily Star opinion by Raul Alcaraz and Stephanie Quintana. The authors basically catch the TPD chief in a logical fallacy. In order to enforce SB1070, you MUST racial profile, so to deny racial profiling and yet claiming to enforce SB1070 is a lie.

In addition, a solution is also provided for this paradoxical problem.

Tim Steller’s Feb. 22 column misses the point entirely.

We are saddened and outraged by the Tucson Police Department, Border Patrol, SB 1070, and the growing anti-migrant national political agenda that is attacking day-labor workers, domestic workers, mothers, fathers and children, as well as the general well-being of our community.

SB 1070 is the Arizona law that requires that “any person who is arrested shall have the person’s immigration status determined before the person is released” during a “lawful” stop. The previous sentence of the bill uses qualifying language, such as if “reasonable suspicion” exists, if it is “practicable,” and unless “the determination may hinder or obstruct an investigation.”

René Huerta Meza’s detention and deportation last week highlight how TPD is actively racial profiling to enforce SB 1070. That’s because we wonder if police would have felt compelled to verify Huerta Meza’s immigration status had he been white.

TPD Chief Roberto Villaseñor denies racial profiling is taking place in his department. However, racial profiling is absolutely necessary for the TPD officers to be able to enforce the state immigration law.

According to the TPD General Orders of SB 1070 enforcement released September 2012, “In determining whether reasonable suspicion of unlawful presence exists, officers should consider all possible relevant factors, including, but not limited to:

“Lack of or false identification,” “possession of foreign identification,” “foreign vehicle registration,” “significant difficulty speaking English,” “dress” “location, including for example: A place where unlawfully present aliens are known to congregate looking for work.”

Clearly, the affected community is being targeted and is “reasonably suspicious” simply for being brown, traumatizing children and tearing apart families.

As described above, TPD can use discretion enforcing SB 1070 if it wants to.

We ask Villaseñor: Why doesn’t TPD use discretion and declare that SB 1070 is never “practicable” because it terrorizes our Tucson community and it “hinders or obstructs” their investigations? It could.

City Council member Karin Uhlich affirmed TPD and posted the following: “Everyone, including Chief Villaseñor and TPD, agrees that public safety is the department’s primary focus and priority, not immigration enforcement, however the mandates of SB 1070 clearly create certain new obligations for our officers.”

Again, SB 1070 language gives TPD a shining loophole it has refused to employ. Will the Tucson City Council publicly demand Villaseñor use these loopholes, so Tucson can live up to the “Immigrant Welcoming City” resolution it passed Aug. 7?

As long as SB 1070 is enforced, and local police call Border Patrol or ICE on families, public safety will always be jeopardized.

Also, are officers delaying the release of detainees for no reason other than to verify their immigration status? If so, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on SB 1070 declares that “this would raise constitutional concerns.”

In addition, René Huerta Meza’s case also highlights how Border Patrol violates basic rights such as the right to a phone call, access to a lawyer and the denial of due process. We ask Manuel Padilla Jr., chief of Border Patrol Tucson Sector, why the Border Patrol sees itself above the U.S. Constitution. Why does it act as if detainees under their custody have no rights?

We demand the state of Arizona repeal SB 1070. In the meantime, we ask that all local law enforcement (sheriffs and police departments in Tucson, Oro Valley, Marana, city of South Tucson, and all across Arizona and the nation) immediately use the loophole in anti-migrant laws like SB 1070 to end collaborations with Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

No more calling Border Patrol. No more family separations and deportations like that of René Huerta Meza. We are all René!

Raúl Alcaraz Ochoa and Stephanie Quintana are local migrant rights community organizers.